Turning Tables
by ToyInTheAttic
Summary: Something doesn't seem right. Ever since Yamato broke up with Taichi, everything's getting switched. Life as Taichi knew it is changing. Just how much more of Yamato's life can Taichi take before he starts to lose his mind? AU Taito
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: If you're thinking this'll be just like Reputations to Maintain, it's not. RTM was about high school pressure and difficult obstacles Yamato had to face. This one is completely twisting and a lot more dramatic. And please remember it's in no way connected to RTM.

Prologue is short. Chapters will be long.

Enjoy : )

Prologue

I can see right through people. I don't know how, but I can.

Like my best friend, Sora, was such a pushover. Her friends would always start yelling at her while she stood there and took it. I think it was because her parents were always arguing so much that she promised herself she would never make her kids go through that. Maybe that was why Sora had had such horrible boyfriends.

And Mimi, my high school boyfriend's best friend. She went through guys like she went through clothes in her closet. I think that was because she didn't have a dad, a guy to depend on, so she thought she'd need a boyfriend at all times. Poor girl.

I can see right through my sister. These two guys back in those days had such a big crush on her, but she pretended not to notice. I knew she was just flattered and loved seeing them argue about it. She's a bitch like that.

The football and soccer players, too. I always knew they were just a cocky bunch of jerks who lied to girls so they could get laid. Even though I was Mr. Soccer-Captain-To-Be, I wasn't like that. Maybe because I'm gay…who knows?

I could see right through my high school boyfriend when he broke up with me, even though it was on the phone. I knew he was just doing it because he thought I was too perfect.

You must think I have a damn amazing talent. Well, he told me that. And I still don't know what he meant.

It was because of that phone call that my senior year was completely fucked up. Some people call it fate, some people call it destiny…some even call it back luck. I didn't really realize what I had until I lost it. I lost everything, and it wasn't fair. Nothing is.

I was sitting in my bathroom, lighting a joint when Yate, my roommate, was telling me to get my life together before I ended up some homeless person. All I could think about while looking at him, though, was how worried he was that he was gonna get expelled for letting me smoke in the room. He wasn't really selfish-just nervous.

All I could really think about was my senior year. It ruined everything. Ever since that fucking phone call, when I answered it, expecting Yamato to ask me to the movies.

But he had something else on his mind.

"Hey!" I had greeted happily, only to get a muttered "hi" for a reply.

"Uh oh. What's wrong?"

I listened carefully for an answer. Yamato eventually said, "We have to break up."

The smile on my face faded as quickly as a candle's flame could. Break up? Like not see each other anymore? As in not being a couple? As in being…single? No…I couldn't do that. I didn't want to.

"Why?"

"Listen, Tai, we've been through with this before. Do I really have to explain again?"

"Yeah, I think you do."

Yamato groaned. "I love you. You know that. I'm just going through a really rough time right now, and the last thing I need is watching my perfect boyfriend win a perfect game of soccer."

"If you're going through a rough time, wouldn't it be the time you need me most?"

"It normally would be…but it isn't."

Stop talking, my mind had demanded, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. It was so unexpected…We weren't even fighting! Why would Yamato just go and drop such a big bomb on me? And why would he not have a good enough reason?

Without saying anything, I flipped the cell phone shut. Moments ago I hopped I could hear Yamato's voice talk to me.

Now every time I think about the phone call, it makes me sick. It really did change everything.

"I strictly forbid it."

"Hey! Come on, K.T.! It's not like I'm putting any of it on your sandwich."

"It's T.K., and watching you eat is gross enough. Having mustard included is just making it ten times worse."

"Mustard isn't that bad…"

"Davis, mustard is the most disgusting substance known to man!"

I groaned and dropped my face into my pillow. Was it really necessary for Kari to invite Takeru and Daisuke over everyday? Normally I didn't mind it, but that morning, Takeru was reminding me of his older brother. And his older brother had broken up with me the night before.

"You two!" Kari snapped. I wished our apartment wasn't so small. Even in a bedroom with the door shut, you could hear those three making lunch.

With all the strength I could get a hold of, I pulled myself out of bed and wandered into the kitchen.

"Hey, Tai!" Davis called when he saw me. "Trying out for the soccer team on Tuesday?"

I laughed. "Obviously. Who else could take my role of the school's captain?"

In all honesty, I wasn't too worked up over me and Yamato breaking up. We'd probably get back together in a few days or something. Last time we had gotten into a fight we made up the nest week. There was nothing to worry about.

Suddenly, there was something that sounded like glass breaking. Then I heard, "Daisuke Motomiya, you clean my floor right now!"

I must have been napping on the couch for hours before the door swung open and in came Sora, a concerned look on her face.

"Hey, Tai. I was thinking we could do something. Were you sleeping?"

"Did you hear about me and Yamato or something?"

She sighed. "Yeah, Mimi called me this morning. She's at his place right now."

Go figure, I thought. Mimi and I had never really known each other enough to hang out outside of school, yet she and Yamato were inseparable. I guess it made me a little heated up because I'd always remember the many times my own boyfriend would ditch our plans just to watch movies with her. Maybe he felt the same way about Sora.

"So you're feeling okay?"

I nodded. "It won't be permanent. It'll probably last a week or two."

Sora sat on the couch beside me and smiled. "Well, soccer tryouts are coming up, so you won't have to be thinking about it this week. Are you excited, Mr. High School Captain?"

I laughed. "I guess I am. Who else is trying out?"

"I have no idea. Oh! You know Terry, the girl on my team? She told me her brother was. I don't think that's a surprise-that whole family is on every team the school has. You're friends with him, aren't you?"

My cell phone rang. I stared at it and read the screen.

"Who is it?"

I looked up at Sora. "Yamato."

"Are you gonna answer it?"

"I don't know," I smiled. "Should I?"

We both sat in silence, listening to my ring tone. Sora shrugged and started laughing.

"I guess I'll just talk to him on Monday," I said, tossing my phone away from me.

But I didn't talk to him. I ignored him, sticking my nose up to the air and laughed when I saw the hurt expression on his face. I didn't hear a word about him until history fourth period.

"Guess what happened to Yamato at gym class?"

I looked up. Mimi was suddenly sitting beside me and I could've groaned. Unfortunately, thanks to teachers and their seating plans, we had to sit together.

"What happened?"

"The teacher told him to try out for the soccer team."

I burst out in laughter. Yamato, doing a sport? No way. I had always wondered why he picked Phys Ed for one of his senior classes. He hated sports. In all the years I had known him, no teachers ever even talked about school teams to him. There was a reason he hated them-he just sucked.

"The teacher actually thinks he's gonna make it?"

Mimi punched me. "You can be so rude sometimes, Tai! I think he will."

"Of course you do."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't you feel weird, though? You and your ex-boyfriend are going to soccer tryouts. I think it'll be so awkward…"

"I don't think he should go," I said flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because he's gonna make a complete fool of himself. There are a lot of really athletic guys that I've been playing with since freshmen year. Yamato just…doesn't fit in with us. At all."

"You know what?" She smiled. "I bet you ten dollars he'll make the team."

I stared at the hand she was presenting and shook it with pride. "Deal."

I can't say I wasn't excited when I noticed Yamato was calling my cell phone after school. Sora wasn't there, so it was the perfect opportunity to answer it. I dropped the sandwich I was making and flipped opened the cell phone.

"Hi," I answered in a bored tone.

"Oh! Tai…I didn't think you'd pick up."

"Yeah, well, I did. What do you want?"

He didn't immediately reply. "Well, if you're gonna be like that, then never mind."

"Why are you calling?"

"I…I don't know," he said quietly. "I guess it was just a hard day and I really, really wanted to talk to you. I always do. You know that."

I let out a laugh. "You always did? You remember we're broken up, right?"

"Yeah. Okay, Tai, I get it. I just didn't think it'd be so fucking hard to see you at school. I just…"

God, I love revenge. "What are you suggesting, Yama?"

I listened carefully, expecting the "Let's get back together." I kind of felt like a jerk from the way I was talking, but seriously-two days must have been some kind of record.

But he just replied, "I don't think we should talk for a while. Maybe a month or something, you know?"

I completely froze. "What?"

"I think it'd be good for us. I mean, having us still being friend would-"

"I don't get it! What's wrong with just getting back together?"

He groaned. "I don't know, Tai! I'm really messed up right now. Both of my parents are really going crazy and my dad fucking hates me, so my-"

"I don't have time for this! I've put up with your shit for such a long time, Yamato. I'm in the mood to just be thankful I don't have to anymore."

"Excuse me? And I suppose you never complain, right?"

"At least I have stuff to complain about!"

He laughed. "Like not winning a soccer game? Like getting in an argument with your sister? Tai, at least you live with your fucking sister!"

I didn't reply, so he just kept going. "My parents won't even talk to each other without ripping their eyes out! You're parents are still together, living happily and lovingly. Do you know what kind of stress I have? I'm afraid to be home right now, because my English teacher told my dad I'm failing. I don't even wanna know what he thinks of that…"

"Whatever."

"No, don't even say that. I would switch places with you any day, Tai, and you fucking know that."

There was silence. Then, "I'll just see you at the tryouts, okay?"

I chuckled as the dial tone came. There was no way in hell Yamato would actually be on that field Tuesday afternoon…was there?

It was foggy. I inhaled the fall air. I fucking love soccer. I couldn't wait to get on that field and kick that ball. I hadn't played that summer since competitive teams were cancelled, so you could imagine how stoked I felt. Soccer was like my destiny, what I was born to do.

"Hey, Taichi Yagami!"

I turned around and saw Yolei, a girl who was the school newspaper's journalist for sports. I think she wanted to take care of sports just for an excuse to watch guys work out, but I didn't mind.

Yolei had always followed me around the year before for an interview. Even though no one really cares about the newspaper, I breathed in every moment of it. It was like being a celebrity or something.

"Yeah?" I snapped impatiently, like I was too busy for her.

"Mind answering a few questions?"

I kept walking down the hill towards the field. "If you hurry."

She followed quickly. "Are you going to be disappointed if you don't make the team?" she asked, then stuck a tape recorder in my face. She must have taken her role in the school newspaper very seriously.

"Honestly, I'll be disappointed if I don't make captain."

"Anything you'd like to recommend for the boy's freshmen team?"

"Practise."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh…one more thing."

"Sure,"

She stopped. "Are you going to be disappointed if Yamato Ishida makes the team?"

I stared at Yolei. She was pointing to the goalie net where Yamato was kicking balls into the net.

"Are you kidding?" I cried sarcastically, "I'd throw him a damn party!"

As soon as I ran onto the field, the coach blew his whistle. We all rushed over to him and lined up.

"Nice to see you again, Yagami," he said. I grinned.

"Wouldn't miss my captain year, would I?"

The coach smiled and split us up into two different teams. I was on Yamato's, but I guess that was better than being against him.

The team wanted me to be in the center of the field while the ball was being dropped. I had no complaints, though. For the first little while it was going good-people were focused, everyone was passing the ball back and forth, and there was no negativity.

Someone passed the ball to me while I was near the net. While I thought my moment was victory was coming, someone from the other team blocked me. I searched around and spotted Yamato. I kicked the ball to him and if you really want to know, he missed the damn shot. At least he could kick the thing.

I tried to get the ball before anyone else but was beat by Daisuke. He was wearing a challenging smile.

A few people blocked him while running to the other side of the field, so I tried to think of who the best player was. Yate Ownna ran passed me and called Daisuke's name, and after which I made sure to go after him.

I don't know how it happened, but Yate tripped me to the ground. On the way down, my leg was turning, so I landed in an awkward position. Suddenly, my knee was burning like hell.

"Tai!" I heard a familiar voice say, then saw Yamato rush over to me. "Are you all right?"

"Fine and dandy!" I cried.

"I'm calling the hospital."

I looked around and saw everyone standing near me. It made me nervous since I've always had a slight claustrophobia.

"All right, folks," I heard the coach say. "Nothing to see here. Bench for fifteen minutes, okay?"

Yate looked at me with horror. "God, I'm really sorry, Yagami…"

"Don't worry about it," I managed to say, pondering about how I'd kill him later.

Yamato ran back onto the field. "They're on their way," he informed me, as if I couldn't have figured that out.

"Can you stand up, son?" Coach asked, taking my hand.

As soon as my leg moved, I dropped back to the grass. "Nope."

"For Christ's sake!" he muttered under his breath. "That's kid's this school's best player! What am I gonna do…"

"What do you mean?" I snapped. "I'm still playing."

"You can't play with that knee, Yagami. You aren't gonna play for a while."

My mind went blank. I couldn't play? Suddenly, the pain in my knee increased. It felt like the bottom half of my leg was being pulled off or something.

I grabbed his ankle. "Coach, I promise you. I'm still gonna play."

He shook his head at me and faced Yamato. "Are you going with him?"

"No," I answered. "He's not."

My eyes started getting heavy. I closed them tightly as the ambulance sirens came closer.

And that is just the beginning.


	2. Beginning Basics

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Digimon characters

**A/N**: I think I might change the rating to M once I get the next chapter up, so expect mature subjects a little later. I planned on updating this on Saturday or Sunday, but I figured today's Valentine's Day, I might as well do something enjoyable.

_**Chapter One: Beginning Basics**_

I woke up on a hospital bed. My knee felt worse than it had before. I searched the room and saw a remote control for the television, but I couldn't reach it. My mom's a nurse for the hospital, so I knew there was a button to press when you need someone in the room.

After someone came in and asked me if I wanted my mom with me, I waited impatiently.

"I knew someone should have stayed with you," I heard her say with frustration as she came in.

"Why didn't you stay with me?" I snapped.

"Taichi, someone has cancer three rooms down the hall. I thought their issue was a little more extreme than a knee that's out of place."

"Oh. My knee's out of place?"

She nodded. "It is. You'll have to spend the night here and use crutches for a little while. It's not big deal, Taichi, so-"

"Great!" I cried, feeling a smile. "So I _can_ play soccer!"

Mom glanced at me wearily. She walked away from the towel she was folding to sit beside me. "Honey, your knee popped out of place. You won't be able to play any sports for a while."

I almost froze. "Yeah, I will. You just wait."

"Taichi," she started sternly, but just stood up. "Do you want to call Yamato?"

"Mom, we broke up. Can you pass me that channel changer?"

Mom did so and sighed. "You'll get back together," she tried to assure me, but I knew her mind was elsewhere.

XxX

I had a test in math the next day, but luckily I was able to miss school. It was eight o'clock when I watched my parents rushed to drink their coffees and get ready. Kari was chasing Mom the whole time.

"C'mon! I'm not doing anything in school right now anyway!"

"Hikari, get dressed. Taichi, if you need anything, call me. I don't know why the doctor agreed to you and let you out last night. I told him-for God's sake, Hikari, get dressed!"

Kari raced over to Dad. "Dad, can I stay home with Tai?"

"Ask your mother."

"_Moooooom_, please-"

"Kari, shut up!" I finally cried.

"I wanna keep my brother company, Mom! You know-"

"Fine, Hikari, fine!" my mother boasted, and then slammed the door.

Suddenly the apartment was silent. Kari smiled at me. "Well, I'm going back to bed."

She walked by me. I smirked and grabbed her leg. "Get me some ice cream, will ya?"

"Get it yourself."

"Gee, let me get right on that. Oh wait, I can't move."

Kari rolled her eyes. "Your crutches are right there!"

"All this time could have been used for you to get me my ice cream," I argued, and then I picked up the phone and threatened to call Mom. She groaned as she made her way to the kitchen. While I made sure she wasn't doing anything suspicious to it, I heard my cell phone in my bedroom.

"Oh, can you get that for me?"

Kari looked pissed. It was hilarious. She stomped to my bedroom, came back out, flipped open my phone and snapped, "Tai's busy." Then she threw it at me.

Kari was so much like my mother. They were both generally nice people, easygoing and caring, but in the mornings they're the worst people to get angry. I rolled my eyes at her and searched through my calling history. It was Sora, and that made me nervous. I had completely forgotten to call her at the hospital.

"What the hell happened?" she shrieked at me.

"I just popped my knee out of place," I replied casually. "What's up?"

"I heard you broke your leg! Seriously, Tai, you have to tell me these things. Yamato's having a nervous breakdown or something."

I laughed. "What?"

"That's what Mimi told me. You're not coming to school today, are you?"

"Nope. Got a personal maid, too."

"I think Mimi said something about Yamato wanting to see you."

I snorted. "Do you wanna come see me at lunch?"

We made arrangements to meet up when she was done school. I made her one hundred percent aware that I didn't give a shit if Yamato was worried about me, and I even told Sora not to tell Mimi anything. It wouldn't kill my ex to be a _ittle_bit more worried about me.

Kari came into the living room with my ice cream once I closed my cell phone. "So, are you gonna tell me what happened with Yamato?"

"How did you know?"

"Mom told me. What happened?"

Figured. My mom and sister just loved gossiping with each other. "I don't know. I guess he's kinda messed up right now. Doesn't have time for me anymore."

"Was he mad?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would he be mad?"

"Well, I always kind of figured you were the best thing he'd ever had. I mean, his parents obviously aren't there for him too much, his friends are getting mad at him, from what I'm hearing, and his band's really pissed-"

"Don't swear. I guess it's his decision if he wants to dump me, isn't it?"

Kari looked at me with complete shock. "_He_ broke up with _you_?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I guess…" She shrugged. "Me and TK were kind of thinking it was the other way around."

Surprisingly enough, her comment made want to defend Yamato. "Why?"

"Well, girls keep asking me if you're still gay, guys my age wanna be the soccer champion of the school just like you, and…you know what I mean. Yamato's just the guy you were dating."

"Are you saying I can do better than Yamato or something?"

She slowly nodded. "If you want to put it that way, but I kind of meant that you're more, like…together than him."

"Same thing, isn't it?"

She shrugged. I thought about it, but didn't really believe her. For all I knew, Takeru could have been saying the same thing to Yamato.

XxX

A few hours later, I was woken up by someone sitting on my stomach. When my eyes opened, there was Sora, smiling at me like she had just taken over the world.

"Yamato had a little breakdown today."

My eyes widened. "How come?"

"Yamato and I, like, barely know each other, so I didn't dare ask him. He was in a really bad mood and had to go home."

"Who made the soccer team?" I asked her, ignoring my sympathy for Yamato.

Sora shrugged. "The list isn't posted yet. So anyway, Yamato told Mimi-"

"Why would I care about what my ex-boyfriend told Mimi?"

She frowned. "Because you might get back together like you normally would?"

"Well, we're not."

Sora laughed as if I had made a joke. "Remember last time you two broke up? You were back together within a week!"

"Yamato has a lot of concerns right now. The last thing he needs is a boyfriend to worry about."

I couldn't really figure out why I felt the need to defend Yamato so much. Half of me was mad at him for doing this to me, completely out of the blue, but another half of me felt bad for him. He was a great guy, but he had his problems.

"I'm gonna leave," Sora told me quietly, standing up.

"Okay," I muttered. I wasn't too worried; Sora and I argued all the time. We would probably make up the next day.

And sure enough, we did.

XxX

No one had really kept in touch with me for the next week. Kari didn't bother checking the soccer list for me, despite how much I begged her to. It wasn't until the day I finally came back to school. It was a Thursday, and even though I was ready to go back on Wednesday, my mom was always easy to persuade.

"I feel like I haven't seen you for a month!" Sora claimed as she greeted me at my locker. "Guess who I went out with on Friday?"

"Who?"

"Jance Mannick. God, he's so cute."

I raised my eyebrow. Jance Mannick was this weird guy a year older than us. He had failed a grade when he was in middle school. I didn't want Sora dating him-he was a psychopathic freak. He had to take anger management every week to keep himself calm. The whole school was afraid of him. Including _me_.

"And he didn't punch a hole in the wall?"

Sora gave me an unimpressed look. "C'mon, Tai. You gotta admit he's pretty good-looking."

"Yeah, sure he is. But are you still gonna say that when he's yelling at you everyday, throwing things around, ditching anger management?"

"Oh shut up," she bit back as I closed my locker. "He's kinda dangerous. I like that. And it was only one date-I'll only go for a second one if he asks."

"Okay," I replied, sounding unconvinced. I knew Sora was going to regret it, but there was nothing I could do. We walked to math together, laughing about this and that when we come across the soccer list.

"Did you see this yet?" I asked, rushing towards it.

"Uh, no, Tai. I don't know if you've noticed, but not everyone is head-over-heels for soccer. I'd rather date a tennis player any day."

I ignored her and ran my finger through the list. I wasn't looking for my name-I knew it wouldn't be on it. I was looking for others. Yate was on-understandable. Akow made it-hard to believe, but he was good at passing. Daisuke-still a decent choice, despite what happened the year before…

"Uh, we should get to class," Sora interrupted, grabbing my arm.

"Hold on."

"No, really, you should look at that later…"

I looked at her. She was hiding something. I snapped my head back to the list and gasped at the next name.

Yamato Ishida.

XxX

September really dragged on for me. The soccer team all stayed good friends with me, Sora and I kept close and I felt like everything was getting back to normal. Sure, Yamato was on the team, but that didn't mean I had to hang out with him.

October was the same. When I could walk again, I felt really good, but sometimes the pains came back. It was official.

I wasn't playing soccer that year.

The best thing was that Yamato wasn't really in my mind at all. I felt like I was finally over him. Until a Halloween party…then I just realized some feelings never die.

I wasn't too drunk when I paid the taxi driver a few dollars and stepped out of the car. At least, I didn't _think _I was. The party was supposed to be huge, so I had to go. What else was I going to do on a Halloween night?

It wasn't really a costume party, so I didn't dress up, but there were a few girls in really slutty outfits. The soccer team was there, and I hung out with them for a while. They were telling me about Yamato, how he was doing on the team, his weaknesses, his skills…

"Is he better than me?" I asked them, and Yate laughed.

"Yagami, no one's better than you," he replied, almost sarcastic, but I smiled.

"Man, I wish my knee wasn't so fucked up," I complained, playing with my shirt's sleeve. "Then maybe, maybe we could have won against that fucking school across town. What's their name?" I laughed hysterically, but no one else joined me. I heard when I had too much to drink I think I'm hilarious. God, I hope that's not true.

Another guy on the team mentioned he was mixing drinks and asked if anyone wanted any. I said I wanted as much as he could find, and I was rewarded with a slap on the back from all of my former team mates.

After that, I don't remember too much.

When I woke up at midnight, my legs were crossed on Yamato fucking Ishida's lap. I jumped in surprise and stared at him.

"Where the fuck did you come from?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Tai, what are you talking about? You've been talking to me all night."

"What?"

He rubbed his eye with his hand. "My God, you're still drunk."

"How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour and a half. Tai, look at me, you're eyes are-Tai!"

Yamato grabbed my face and forced me to make eye contact. "Shit, Tai, come upstairs with me. You definitely need to get the fuck to sleep and drink some water. Can you even hear what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," I muttered, and then attempted to stand up.

The whole night seemed like a blur to me or something. I felt like the floor was moving and the walls were closing in on me. Somehow I had made it upstairs and was sitting on a bed, watching Yamato put a wet cloth on my forehead.

"If you throw up," he was saying, "you're on your own."

"I'm not drunk," I told him, lying down. "Just a little tired."

He rolled his eyes. "Do you want to sleep over?"

"Whose house is this?"

"It's just Ross's, he'll let you stay. His parents are out."

"You complain too much," I randomly murmured, suddenly feeling like I couldn't control what I was saying. "Hey, Yama, you wanna smoke some weed?"

"No, Tai, I don't want to smoke weed. I don't really feel like babysitting a three-year-old with the flu."

I didn't know what he meant, so I closed my eyes and sighed. My stomach was doing turns, and I didn't like the thought of Yamato being right beside me. All I wanted to do was kiss him.

"How much did you drink?" he asked, astonished.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I groaned, even though he was the first person who did.

"Tai, go to sleep."

I was about to protest and kiss him, but before I could I was fast asleep.

XxX

When I finally remember what had happened the next day, I was in complete regret, wondering why I would have ever let Yamato, of all people, put me to bed. Now everyone was going to say they saw us going up the stairs, and Yamato was going to tell them he took care of me.

At school on a Monday, a few were asking me how I was since the party. I muttered I didn't want to talk about it. Then, after lunch in history class, Mimi said,

"Do you soccer boys have to drink so much?"

"What?"

She tossed her hair behind her shoulder and copied the notes on the board. "Yamato told me, you know."

"About what?"

"That you were so wasted he had to take care of you."

I hated the term "take care" of someone. I replied, "He didn't take care of me."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. He just told me to go to upstairs."

She shrugged. "He told me he-"

"He wishes," I snapped, giving her a stern look. Mimi was a nice girl and everything, but sometimes she could really piss me off. It was like she had to know all the last news about her friends. It was just one of those things that bothered me about girls, which was probably why I was such good friends with Sora.

Mimi didn't talk for the rest of the class, and I was glad. When the bell rang I gleefully stood up. I had an appointment with the school's guidance counselor, who helps students with their problems but also helps students switch their schedule.

I sat on the waiting chair and was assisted into the office.

"Taichi, is it?"

"Yeah."

Mr. Forrest was looking at me through top edge of his glasses. "And you wish to change your fifth period class?"

"Uh-huh."

"Reason?"

I sighed. "I have Phys Ed that period, but I put my knee out of place during soccer try-outs."

He smiled and nodded, probably thankful for my eligible excuse. "There are three available courses for fifth period." He shuffled through some paper. "Uh…oh, chemistry, visual arts, and advanced mathematics."

I let out a humorless laugh. "That's all?"

"That's it," he replied, grinning. "What will it be, Mr. Yagami?"

XxX

I don't like art at all, but at least it was easy. There was a half an hour left of the afternoon, and Mr. Forrest made it clear that if I wasn't in class there would be consequences. So, I slowly made my way to the upstairs art room.

Only to run into Yamato on the way.

"Why were you saying all those weird things about me to Mimi?" he demanded to know as soon as he saw me.

"Huh?"

"Like how I wished I could help you when you were drunk?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yamato, I have to go, I-"

"Tai…I don't even know why I thought that I had to help you. It was like I felt like we were still dating, you know?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything. I just…"

I had no idea what he was talking about. Yamato had this annoying habit of rambling on to himself even when no one else was listening. I just rolled my eyes and walked away.

Yamato was staying in my mind. It was hard not to think about him when there was a painting on the wall in the art room, on the bottom there was the signature "Ishida" in small letters. It was the kind of painting with the sky all pink an orange at the sunset.

Basically, it was the kind of painting I couldn't understand.

The teacher, Mrs. Hollion, was introducing me to what the course was about while all I could do was stare at the painting.

"You like that picture?" she asked. "A very talented student painted it. He said it was a mixture of pressure and angst."

I shrugged. "I know who did it."

"Oh, you know Yamato?"

I fucking dated him, I thought, but replied, "I know him really well."

The sunset with all the colors made me feel a certain way. If I didn't know him, I would have thought he was a very talented, outgoing guy. I don't know why. Suddenly I could see things outside my own eyes, if that makes any sense. If I were to look at myself without knowing myself, a popular guy who's extremely into soccer and hanging out with the guys, I would have seen myself as a completely selfish idiot.

I don't know how I did that, but I did. For the first time in my life I saw someone above me.

And even though it made me a little jealous, I was happy when he called me that night.


	3. Teasing Temptations

**Disclaimer**: Not mine!

**A/N**: How in the world has it been almost four years since I've updated this story? Where does all the time go? Jesus!

I am so sorry to any readers that lost hope on me. I can't believe I let this happen! I plan to finish this story as soon as humanly possible. It would be wonderful to leave a review to let me know how you like this chapter. Also, if there are any other of my works in progress you'd like me to work on, let me know!

Please enjoy!

_**Chapter Two: Teasing Temptations**_

My heart nearly stopped when my cell phone started ringing. I just woke up from a dream about Kari falling out of a window, so my vision was blurry and my mind was a little bit boggled. I get like that when I'm in a deep sleep.

I didn't bother to check the time or the caller ID when I pulled my phone off its charger and answered it.

"Hey," I almost whispered, closing my eyes.

"You answered..."

I sat up in my bed and ran my fingers through my hair, letting myself become fully awake. The last thing I expected was to hear Yamato's voice, and the second last thing I expected was to feel so excited about it. "Look, I'm sorry for being such an asshole at school. I just - I don't know - feel like we shouldn't hate each other."

"I feel the same way!" he claimed. "I didn't mean to call you so late. Couldn't stop thinking about you and couldn't for the fucking life of me fall asleep."

"No, it's okay." My eyelids were slowly falling and shooting back opened. "We should be friends again."

"You think?"

"I miss you so much, Yama."

As you can tell, when I'm half-asleep I don't think very clearly.

"Oh, God, Tai … it feels so good to hear you say that. Do you wanna have a drink tomorrow?"

"A drink?"

"Yeah."

I squinted my eyes. "Like … alcohol?"

"Uh, yeah."

"What day is it tomorrow?"

"Tuesday."

"I'll be there, babe," I replied, flipping my phone shut.

I let my eyes close again and allowed myself doze off while thinking of Yamato. Why did we break up in the first place? He was so perfect for me. I could never meet someone so passionate, so caring, so different, so …

My thoughts were completely silent when I popped my eyes opened.

I told Yama I missed him.

I told him we were going to have a drink together tomorrow.

I let my guard down and allowed him to see my true feelings.

What the fuck had I done?

XxX

I wasn't in the mood to deal with Mimi's bullshit during history class.

Well, then again, I never really was.

But anyway, she had this suspicious look on her face as I dropped my binders onto my desk and took my seat. She had a crafty little face - knowing eyes and a sassy smirk. It took one look at that face to realize she knew all about the phone call from the night before.

"Hey, Tai," she greeted, her smile growing bigger. "How are you this glorious day?"

"Fine," I said bluntly as I tossed my books opened to finish my homework.

She bit down on her pencil with excitement before adding, "What are your plans tonight?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing at all?"

I glared at her. "No, Mimi. Nothing at all."

"Oh. Well, I'm going to the movies with Yamato."

"What movie?" I asked, but obviously I wasn't interested.

Before she could answer, the bell rang, and the teacher announced we were having a pop quiz. I was so glad to know that I wouldn't be hearing Mimi's obnoxious voice for the rest of the day.

Suddenly, a scrap piece of paper floated onto my test. It had written on it,

"I can't believe you're hanging out with Yamato tonight!"

I rolled my eyes. What were we? In grade seven?

She even dotted her eyes with hearts.

I didn't react to it until another one landed on my desk.

"I know something you don't know! …"

My eyes immediately connected with hers. She raised her eyebrows flirtatiously.

"What do you know?" I wrote on it and slid it over to her.

"Something Yamato said to me this morning."

"What did he say?"

"He told me he's going to try to get back together with you tonight!"

My entire body nearly froze. First of all, the thought of my ex-boyfriend suddenly deciding we should hook back up was unsettling. I mean, it was nice and all, but did he really just think I would accept that easily? He had broken my heart almost two months before. Had he tried a week after we broke up, it would be different. It was just a piss-off.

And secondly, Mimi was being a horrible friend for blabbing it all to me. Did she have to respect for anybody but herself?

"Isn't that awesome?" she wrote down.

I shrugged and wrote, "We'll see."

XxX

What I had forgotten about that Tuesday up until lunch time was that it was report card day. After fifth period, we were to go to our homeroom class and obtain our class grades from the beginning of the semester to November. I was never worried about report card day - as an athlete, my teachers (naturally) loved me, and I was always decent at school work.

That day, for whatever reason, was different.

I flunked everything.

Everything.

Every single one of my classes was a huge ass 'F.'

I couldn't believe it. I had never failed anything in my entire life. Sure, I was distracted by a break-up, not being able to play sports, and everything else, but there was no reason for me to be doing so terrible. It was my senior year, for fuck sakes!

I stayed at school for an hour to talk to my homeroom teacher to see if there was some possible way there was a mistake.

"Well, Mr. Yagami," she was saying, absentmindedly flipping through papers, "I don't know what to tell you. Try studying harder, and try staying in on lunch hours for extra help."

"I have never had this happen before. This has to be -"

"Your knee caused you to miss quite a bit of time," she continued. "Just do your best."

And that was the farthest the conversation went. I refused to believe it.

When I came home, I lied straight to my mom's face when she asked me how I did on it. I told her seniors only get one report card a year, and she completely bought it. Kari gave me this smirk, like she knew I was lying through my teeth. She didn't say a word though.

After all, she got straight fucking A's.

I met Yamato on his street later that night. He greeted me with a huge smile.

"Hey!"

"Hi," I replied dully, wrapping my sweater tightly around my stomach. "It's fucking cold out."

"Tell me about it."

We walked in silence until we stepped onto his lawn. Is this really what we had come to? Talking about the weather?

"I'm really happy you came," he said, unlocking the front door.

"Yeah."

I shouldn't have.

It was the first time I had ever been inside the house while it was cleaned. Yamato and his father were horrible at home maintenance; their yard must have gone three years without being mowed, dishes used to pile in their kitchen for days, and I don't think the boy has ever made a bed in his life.

"Is your dad home?"

Yamato shook his head. "He's on a date."

"Oh. Nice."

We stood in the kitchen in awkwardness as he poured two glasses of soda and spiced rum. He made mine too strong, but I didn't say anything.

"Clean up?" I asked.

He laughed. "Looks different when you can see the floor, doesn't it?"

More silence.

This was killing me.

"Can we cut to the chase here?" I blurted out.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Why are we hanging out tonight? Is there something - I don't know - you wanted to ask me?"

"Um … no?"

I dismissed his denial and figured it was probably a better idea to knock back the rest of my drink. Yamato didn't hesitate to mix me another one. And another. And … well, before I knew it, our awkward silences were replaced with laughter and reminiscing of the past.

"Shit, I didn't think it was that long ago!" I was saying, pushing my hair off my forehead. "I completely forgot Sora did that."

"Drinking isn't her greatest state, is it."

I shook my head. "She would kill me if I ever brought it up to her."

Yamato reached for something on the kitchen counter that turned out to be a cigarette. Before he could pull a lighter from his pocket, I snatched the cigarette from his hand.

"You started smoking again!"

"Hey, hey," he snapped, trying to grasp the cancer on a stick back. "I only have six left! If you break it, I'm gonna have to smack you."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. You would just light a different one."

"Seriously, Tai, give it back."

Laughter escaped my lips as I tossed it back to him. There I was again - drunk and thinking I was being a real hoot.

That was when Yamato practically sneered and said, "I forgot what a cheap drunk you are."

"Excuse me?"

"And I forgot how annoying you are sometimes."

I felt my face heat up in anger. "I am not annoying."

My ex-boyfriend took a deep inhale from his cigarette with a smile. "Well, you can be," he answered as smoke was released from his mouth. "Face it, Tai - you're on your fourth drink, and you're drunk."

"Yeah? So?"

"Do you wanna go to the living room?"

I laughed again when I realized we had been standing in his kitchen for over an hour.

We made our way to the beat-up couch and, somehow, I managed to spill my drink on the carpet along the way. I sat down anyway as Yamato rolled his eyes and left to grab a towel.

A fucking cat clawed the chair beside me, making me cringe to no end. I hate cats.

"Oh, yeah, guess what?" he asked, pressing the towel onto the spiced rum and soda stain.

"What?"

He looked up at me and beamed. "I got an 'A' in everything."

"What!"

He grinned from ear to ear. "I know! I've never had a report card without failing something. It's crazy! I can't believe I'm even passing phys ed."

"How's soccer going?"

"Awesome! The guys are hilarious."

Fuck, I missed those guys.

"How did you do?"

I stared blankly at him for a few seconds. "How did I what?"

"On your report card."

I simply shrugged and the subject was dropped. He probably figured I had Aced everything, too.

He took a seat beside me with a sigh and thromped his feet onto the coffee table. The only thing I could do wa gaze into his eyes. I don't know if it was the liquor or not, but for some reason, I was quickly remembering all of the things I was missing so desperately about him. His eyes were such a deep blue, the kind that resembled the sky on a beautiful summer day. His hair was so …

And then he kissed me.

My God, he was kissing me.

And it felt so right.

We moved closer to each other, lips locked and hands suddenly roaming all over each other, and my heart dropped. I missed him so much. Kissing him felt so right.

He pulled away, looking into my eyes with confusion. "Is it okay that -"

I nearly threw his onto the couch and kissed him again, pressing my body over his in a way that was driving me crazy. I could feel his member hardening and pushing again mine. It almost made my eyes roll to the back of my head. When he bit my bottom lip, I think my entire body melted.

I wasn't myself around Yamato. My exterior, my persona, it just didn't matter around him. It didn't matter that I was failing school, I wasn't the soccer captain, and I wasn't the envy of every person we knew anymore. He made me feel like I was still, in some disoriented way, the same person. Just with a little less luck.

At that moment, I was ready to do anything I possibly could to him, but he stopped me.

He fucking stopped me!

He told me to get up and asked me to leave.

"Leave?…"

"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I really want us to be friends again, Tai. But this isn't being friends again. This is just going to cause confusion, and I don't need that."

"You don't need that? What about what I need?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"I thought you were gonna ask me to get back together with you."

"Um … what?"

"Yeah." I wanted to stop talking, but for the life of me, I couldn't. "Your bestest friend told me you invited me over to seduce me and get back together with me. I wan't under the impression the complete opposite was going to happen."

Suddenly, he was pissed. "Mimi told you that?"

I nodded. "She sure did."

"Fuck."

"Maybe you need to second guess who your friends are, or better yet, what your needs are."

"Tai, please, don't be like that."

I stormed out of his house, calling him nearly every name in the book. He wore a guilty expression as I left, and I was glad.

Who did he think he was?

XxX

Before I attempted to unlock the door, I could hear a co-motion in the living room. It was my dad's voice, no doubt, and for a split second I thought someone had tried to break into the house.

My thought was dismissed as I heard my mom say,

"Would you bring your voice down? Hikari might hear you!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but this is becoming too much for me to bare. Do you think I can stand to see you dressed up just for you to go out with your friends? When we go out to dinner, you -"

"Is that what this is about?"

"It's about everything!"

"Then, enlighten me, what's the story on your secretary? Why did she call your cell phone last night?"

"Have you been going through my calling history?"

I sat on the front step and leaned my ear against the door. My parents never fought. At least, I didn't think …

"I'm sick of this," my mother was saying. "I'm sick of you constantly disregarding my feelings just so you can be happy. If you're sleeping with your assistant, secretary, whatever, please tell me. I'm your wife! I need to know these things."

He let out a humorless laugh. "You know, I'm starting to think this separation isn't such a bad idea."

My head spun.

_My parents are breaking up!_


End file.
